


Down in the Dumps

by PhoenixInTheAsh



Series: Jason Todd Birthday Week 2018 [4]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Dick and Jason finally talk, Fluff, Hangover, References to past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 14:41:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15687465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixInTheAsh/pseuds/PhoenixInTheAsh
Summary: For dailyjasontodd's Birthday Week Prompts.Day Four: Slice of Life and One ArtistJason is apparently the only person who can help Dick with a hangover. After a couple times, it becomes routine, and they finally start to open up to each other again.





	Down in the Dumps

    Jason’s life had become pretty routine by now, and he wasn’t sure he was happy about it. The structure could be nice, he supposes. He was getting more than a couple hours’ sleep this way. But he was starting to get predictable.

    Jason stares down at his phone, wishing he could burn a hole in it with just a glare. Getting pinned to the wall so easily in just a text message unnerves him. He was getting sloppy and comfortable if Dick could so easily predict what his mornings look like.

     _Hey Jay, I know you’re SUPER busy with your coffee and book-of-the-week ritual, but if you could just skip it this morning, I need your help._

    Jason contemplates the offer, but shuts it down quickly. If Dick needed help, there were plenty of other options. He turns on the coffee maker anyway and picks up his copy of _A Moveable Feast_ (The original edition, not the “restored” edition. He might kill people, but he’s not a sadist.), deciding that a change in routine can come another day.

     _No._

     _Jason, please don’t be like this. I really do need your help._

_Ask Bruce._

_He’s busy. Please, Jason. It’s an emergency._

Jason sets his coffee and phone down with a sigh, regretting his decision to give Dick his permanent cell number. He allows himself to entertain the idea of just ignoring the summons, but knows he is going to agree anyway. Dick did say it was an emergency, and _emergency_ almost always means _backup_. He doesn’t want Dick’s death on his conscience on top of everything else. Besides, he had promised to make more of an effort to include himself in “family affairs”. Dick was a good starting point.

    Jason glances at the time, then picks his phone back up.

     _Where are you?_

    The ride to Blüdhaven wasn’t very long, and soon Jason is outside of Dick’s apartment, ready to bust the door down if Dick doesn’t answer soon. Fortunately, it doesn’t come to that, but Dick does blink owlishly at him once the door cracks.

    “ _Jason_? What the hell━why are you in uniform?”

    Jason falters for a response, mouth opening and closing several times under the protective shield of his red helmet.

    “I━you said this was an emergency.”

    Dick raises an eyebrow, and Jason notices for the first time that he looks a bit green.

    “Wait, are you sick? Did you call me over _just_ for that?”

    Dick shakes his head, opening the door wider to let Jason into his darkened apartment.

    “It’s not the masked sort of emergency. Come in. And take all that off, you won’t be needing to shoot anyone here.”

    Jason enters cautiously, waiting to remove his helmet until the door is firmly closed, but leaves his domino in place until Dick gives him a pointed look. He refuses to remove his weapons, still unsure about whatever he just stumbled into.

    “Dick, why am I here? Anyone else could have brought you meds if you needed it. I’m not exactly the caretaking type.”

    Dick actually manages to look embarrassed as he lowers himself onto the sofa, an unusual expression on his face.

    “I don’t need medication, exactly. I’m just━I do need some stuff, but not really medication.”

    Jason remains standing, crossing his arms after dropping his helmet on a table by the door. Just in case.

    “Then Dick, why the hell would you━” Jason cuts off when it hits him like a ton of bricks. All the clues had been there. He is almost ashamed it took him this long to figure it out. “You’re hungover,” and he can barely keep the incredulous lift out of his voice.

    Dick gives him a weak glare from the blanket he’s already burrowed himself under, easily picking up on Jason’s shock at this turn of events.

    “What━how...But why _me_?” Jason struggles, unaccustomed to being asked for favors from Dick, or anyone. “Why would you call me, of all people?”

    “Well, Bruce would kill me, so would Babs, Tim has zero experience with this, and you were the closest person to Blüdhaven of anyone who would be able to help,” Dick sums, eyes closed against the dim light in the room. “I don’t drink, Jay. Not like this. Wally came to town, and I tried to keep up, because I’m stupid, and now I can’t function enough to go outside my door, much less make it to work, and I really need to patrol tonight. I know we aren’t on great terms and you might hate my guts and probably have no reason to, I just━ _please_. I need your help, Jason. I know you’ve done this before.”

    Jason can’t help but stare, taken completely by surprise at Dick’s admission and left without a way to respond. No one had asked him for help in━God, he couldn’t remember the last time his help had been needed for something that didn’t involve a mask and shooting things. He pushed away the funny feeling in his chest when he realizes that Dick needs _him_ , and not the Red Hood. He doesn’t want to examine that too closely and remind himself exactly how messed-up he is.

    “What’s your favorite flavor of Gatorade?”

    Dick gives him that surprised, owlish look again and watches as Jason begins removing his armor.

    “What?”

    “I said, ‘What’s your favorite flavor of Gatorade?’,” Jason repeats, pulling off his gauntlets and jacket, stripping down to a plain t-shirt, boots, and his cargo pants and piling everything neatly on a chair.

    He misses the hopeful look on Dick’s face. When he straightens, Dick is smirking at him.

    “Blue.”

    “Of course. Should have guessed. I’ll be back in a bit, don’t go anywhere.”

    Jason rolls his eyes at Dick’s choice, tossing the last sentence over his shoulder as he walks to the door.

    He is back soon, as promised, with arms full of bags, to find that Dick is still on the couch with his eyes closed. Jason drops a bottle of Gatorade and bag of greasy food from the local Bat Burger in front of him, and moves to Dick’s kitchen to put away the rest of his purchases. Dick blinks slowly at the food, wincing at the light from the kitchen.

     “So tell me, shouldn’t you know better by now than to try to keep up with a speedster’s metabolism when it comes to alcohol? I think the only reason Bruce would kill you is for being an idiot.”

         The only response is vague mumbling around a mouthful of food, and Jason scoffs. He does his best to ignore the disaster of a kitchen before he comes to sit on the couch and dig into his own meal. They eat in silence for a while, neither having much to say to the other. It isn’t uncomfortable, per se, the years of history between them making them accustomed to each other’s presence. But there is a slight tension that comes with it, the years of history including years of things that have gone unsaid between them.

    It takes only two more instances of Dick needing a hand with a hangover for them to start reminiscing.

    “Do you remember that time Bruce had both of us cleaning the carpet in the den because we had gotten in a fight and knocked over an entire liter of  Pepsi?”

    He does. They had giggled through the whole cleaning process while Alfred watched and fought a smile. It was one of the happier memories from before, untainted by the trauma that followed.

    “Yeah. I thought Bruce was going to put us both back on the street that day.”

    “Nah, he might have been pissed, but he was never that angry with you. Not until━” Dick cuts off, not wanting to say it.

     _Not until I came back from the dead and broke his golden rule._

Silence falls over them again, but the tension has increased twofold. Jason has a moment of generosity and breaks it.

    “For the record, I’m sorry. For everything, really. I━most of the things I’ve done to you, you haven’t deserved. I━uh━I blamed you for a long time for things out of your control. Anger is easier to deal with than abandonment, so I took the easy way out. I’m sorry, Dick. Really.”

    The second the word “sorry” comes out of Jason’s mouth, Dick’s head snaps up, the most alert he’s been since Jason arrived, and his head spins in response to the movement.

    “Jay, no. I don't blame you for any of it. We've all been through so much over the last few years, and at some point I know I was pushing you away, probably when we both needed the opposite. _I'm_ sorry, for ever giving up on you. I said and did some things I don’t want to think about.” He pauses for a minute, giving Jason an opportunity to respond if he chooses, but Jason can’t find any words.  He just stares at Dick, baffled. Dick continues, looking him in the eye. “I should have trusted that I could still lean on you, Jay, and I didn’t. Neither of us has ever been good at communication like this.”

    Jason smiles half-heartedly, and it is tinged with sadness for what could have been years ago. He feels like a weight has lifted off his chest, being able to talk like this with Dick again.

    “Yeah, the one thing all of us inherited from Bruce, and it couldn’t have been his ability to function normally on three hours’ sleep and one cup of tea a day.”

    They both chuckle together, the tension broken, and both hope it doesn’t return.

    “I know you are a support system for everyone else, Dick, but I don’t need that from you anymore. I’m not quite stable yet, but Roy has helped me work through a lot of things. If you ever━I understand, is what I’m trying to say. I understand what you’re dealing with, and when or if you ever need someone to talk with, you have my number. Even if it’s just to complain about Bruce.  I am the best person to talk to, because I will always agree with you. Despite everything, as you’re always reminding me, we are brothers. And you should be able to lean on someone when you need support.”

    Dick actually leans over his open Gatorade bottle to give Jason a one-armed hug, needing the physical reassurance. He pulls back gingerly to not spill the drink in his hand, and his voice is tight.

    “Thank you. You have no idea what━just, thanks. It’s nice to hear you admit out loud that we are brothers.”

    Jason rolls his eyes, the moment now over between them when Dick wipes fake tears off his face.

    “Yeah, bro, I think I can finally make peace with having siblings, bro.”

    Jason stands, taking their trash and beginning a quest to find a can for it in Dick’s kitchen.

    Dick laughs, beginning to think he should get hungover more often if it allows the two of them to be more open with each other.

    Jason shoos Dick to bed with another bottle of Gatorade, claiming he would feel better once he finished that and had a nap. Dick isn’t surprised to wake up a few hours later to a clean, but empty, apartment. He does feel better, and decides to give Jason space for now. He suspects that they are already on the path to healing things between them, and definitely doesn’t want to interfere.

  
  
  
  


    His suspicions are confirmed months later when Jason barges into his apartment uninvited, already armed with a hangover cure after Dick went out with some of the older Titans the night before. His heart warms to see Jason feel comfortable mother-henning him, and Dick is content to sit back and let himself be taken care of.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friends who ripped me apart editing this. Keep up the good work.


End file.
